In 2009, President Obama signed Executive Order 13502, which encourages federal agencies to mandate project labor agreements (PLAs) on large-scale federal construction projects exceeding $25 million in total cost on a case-by-case basis. Many merit shop advocates of fair and open competition predicted the order would steer billions of dollars’ worth of federal construction contracts to unionized contractors and their all-union workforces—without true competition from qualified merit shop contractors and their nonunion employees, who compose 86.1 percent of the U.S. construction workforce.

Stakeholders turned to Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) to defend fair and open competition in federal contracting. ABC and the merit shop contracting community mobilized an aggressive campaign of effective public relations, political, legal and legislative strategies to restrict the devastating impact of anti-competitive and costly government-mandated PLAs on federal, state and local public works projects.

ABC’s campaign continues to produce impressive results. Efforts helped prevent PLA mandates and preferences on nearly 99 percent of federal contracts exceeding $25 million from FY2009-FY2016, freeing up 1,173 contracts worth a total of almost $65 billion from PLA requirements so all qualified firms could fairly compete to win these contracts.

ABC contractors have taken advantage of a level playing field. From FY2009-FY2016, ABC member prime contractors won 54.94 percent of large-scale federal contracts subject to President Obama’s pro-PLA Executive Order 13502. That’s 651 contracts valued at a total of $41.776 billion won by ABC members.

Note: This data, downloaded from USASpending.gov and cross-referenced with ABC’s membership, does not include federal contracts awarded and performed by subcontractors.

All legal challenges to state and federal policies ensuring government neutrality in contracting have failed.

ABC’s efforts to enact state Government Neutrality in Contracting Act (GNICA) laws prevented government-mandated PLAs on $155.86 billion of state construction work through 2013, and an estimated $170 billion through May of 2016.

Nevada, West Virginia and Arkansas enacted laws in 2015 prohibiting state government entities from requiring contractors to sign a PLA or other agreements with labor unions as a condition of performing work on public construction projects, while Maine’s law sunset in October 2015. In 2016, efforts in Florida and Ohio came up short, but additional states are poised to pass GNICA legislation in the future.

While ABC’s campaign against these anti-competitive schemes has been largely successful, lawmakers requiring and encouraging the use of PLA mandates cost taxpayers a fortune and harm qualified merit shop contractors and their skilled trades employees.

Continuing the Fight

During the Trump administration, ABC and a diverse coalition of organizations will continue to make defending fair and open competition in public contracting a top priority. In the 115th Congress, ABC will promote legislation called the Fair and Open Competition Act (H.R. 1552/S. 622), introduced by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) March 15 and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) March 14, and similar language in appropriations bills, which would restore a level playing field in federal contracting by preventing entities procuring federal and federally assisted projects from requiring PLAs as a condition of winning a taxpayer-funded contract.

ABC will continue to implement effective legislative, legal and regulatory strategies with communications and grassroots campaigns to educate federal agency procurement officials, lawmakers, industry stakeholders, the media and taxpayers about the harmful effects of special interest PLA schemes.

The merit shop contracting community can overcome these discriminatory PLA schemes as long as industry leaders remain diligent and continue to educate lawmakers and stakeholders about this campaign until a political or legislative solution is achievable.

How Will President Trump Shape PLA Policy?

Presidential policies addressing the use of government-mandated PLAs on federal and federally assisted construction projects have been subject to a game of political ping pong since the early 1990s, depending on which party controls the White House.

Since the 1990s, GOP presidents have issued executive orders opposing government-mandated PLAs, while Democrat presidents have enacted policies advocating the use of government-mandated PLAs.

A Hillary Clinton presidency would have continued, if not expanded, President Obama’s pro-PLA policy. In early 2016, at the North American Building Trades Union legislative conference,Clinton promised to gut Right to Work laws, protect the archaic 1930s-era Davis-Bacon Act, create jobs exclusively for union apprentices and support government-mandated PLAs:

In return, Big Labor’s PLA advocates attacked Donald Trump and backed Clinton with endorsements, paid media and millions of dollars of political contributions to her campaign and allies.

Mr. Trump has not publicly indicated his support or opposition to government-mandated PLAs. He has declined to voluntarily build with PLAs on Trump development projects in open shop markets, but he has occasionally executed voluntary PLAs with unions on some projects in union-friendly markets in New Jersey, Manhattan and Chicago with mixed results.

The development company eventually settled the suit against the Chicago and Cook County Building and Construction Trades Council, the Construction and General Laborers’ District Council of Chicago, and Vicinity and Laborers’ International Union Local 6.

Joseph Gagliardo, managing partner of the firm Laner, Muchin, Dombrow, Becker, Levin and Tominberg Ltd., represented 401 North Wabash in the action and told the media that the unfortunate lesson emerging from this strike and suit has to do with the real value of project agreements with Chicago unions.

“The whole purpose of the project labor agreement is to prevent interruption and prevent delay and have labor peace,” he said. “So the question this strike raises is–and I don’t know the answer to it–what impact will this strike have on the willingness of other building owners to engage in a project labor agreement?”

Taxpayers and the merit shop contracting community deserve relief from anti-competitive and costly policies promoting government-mandated PLAs. Fair and open competition is the only way to give taxpayers the best possible product at the best possible price.

In 2017, ABC will continue to fight for state, local and federal policies that create a level playing field in the procurement of government construction contracts, increase competition, help small businesses grow, curb construction costs and spread the job-creating benefits of federally funded contracts throughout the entire construction industry.